


Detective Heal Thyself

by Brynstein



Category: The Fall (TV 2013)
Genre: Angst, Character Study, Post-Season/Series 03
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 05:28:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29273232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brynstein/pseuds/Brynstein
Summary: After Stella's return home, she works through her pain and trauma.
Kudos: 6





	Detective Heal Thyself

**Author's Note:**

> TW- themes of self-harm, but no actual self-harm.
> 
> This is very short. I might expand on it and go into more depth in the future.

Stella sat there with her morning cup of tea, hands wrapped around the warm ceramic of an old mug. Steam rose in coiling whisps, grey as the day outside the window, where the low hanging clouds dispelled their contents onto the people rushing in the street; each with their places to be, their schedules to keep. She took a sip, indulging in the flavour of the chamomile as it soaked her tongue and slipped down her throat, the drink still too hot for consumption.

Curled in the chair by her window, she contemplated the great mystery of the stranger: the never knowing of where they were going. She was just a solitary witness to a glimpse of their journey between stages, never to be seen again. She watched them as they passed by, wondering about their destination, and the thoughts they harboured, and who they loved. They could be anybody. They were anybody.

Stella took another sip and continued to observe through the raindrops streaking down the glass. The lights of a taxi refracted bursts of orange and red in the droplets; a blur of a person climbed inside, another stranger in the morning rush. It all passed around her until the thrum of the morning faded and her cup was cold, and she was left just watching. Just listening to the patter upon the rooftops. Just.

She sighed, leaning into the feeling of her lungs expanding into her broken ribs. She allowed herself the sensation of feeling, alone in the privacy of her own home, and took another deep breath. Like the tea, she indulged in the throbbing ache at her side, allowed the pain to wash over her in waves. She'd been lying to herself the last few days, that there was no residual trauma soaking the carpets of her mind. She had taken her pain medication and prioritised the case and her colleagues. But she'd never had the chance to slow down, catch her breath, and recognise her suffering.

Now, she looked over to where her medication for the day lay unopened on the side, her whole body aching and fatigued. Stella didn't fight it, she let it affect her as she claimed it back for herself. Working through the suffrage of her body, she reclaimed her dignity, her authority over evil, her humanity. Watching, through the window, the rain splash in puddles, she took deep breaths and began healing her mind.


End file.
